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Thursday, June 23, 2011

The State of the Garden Address

It's been a rough couple weeks and I haven't posted in a while, but it's high time I did. I promise that, unlike it's distant cousin (The State of the Union Address), this address will be quite positive and minimally frustrating.

Chickens:

Ok, so they're not exactly plants but as our only (eventually) food-bearing animals, it seemed like a good place to update you on them. In the last week, they have officially graduated from chick food to layer pellets. Technically speaking there should be grower pellets in there and they probably should have been eating that for the last month or two and for the next few months, but there is no good source here for organic grower pellets so they're skipping that food step.

Potatoes:

I haven't seen a beetle on the plants since we sprayed them. The plants are growing well, though they have yet to flower. A little too well, actually. Nick has been forgetting to pile grass clippings around them and the plants are getting a little droopy as a result. No worries, there will be no shortage of clippings next time we cut our grass.

Corn:

The corn has been battling weeds because we missed the boat on proper weed control this year. We've got some ideas for next year, and in the mean time the corn does seem to be triumphing over the weeds.

Lettuce:

While we were out of things last week our lettuce has come into it's own. It has made it's way onto a few burgers and such in the last week, but if we want to have any chance of eating it before it goes to seed, i see an awful lot of grilled bear salad in our future.

Tomatoes/Peppers/Eggplant:

Our dear hard-to-start plants for the most part seem to be thriving in their new outdoor environment. I still have my reservations, but Nick is very hopeful about their prospects.

Bush Beans:

Blooming away!

Snow Peas:

Blooming AND starting to get beans! I'm not expecting as nice of a crop this year as last year because we started them so late, but there will definitely be snow peas.

Cabbage:

The cabbage is off to a slow start, but they look healthy enough, i'm sure they'll grow big and strong as the summer progresses.

Spinach:

Nick planted spinach with the lettuce, but it never came up *pout*. He has since planted oorange-fleshed watermelon seeds in their place. They're still so small it's hard to know how they will turn out.

Cucumbers:

Nick will be very glad to hear that pickle season is almost upon us. This morning, I spotted our first cucumber blossoms.

Nick says it's a pumpkin. I know the pumpkins were tossed into the garden last fall. I say it's a decorative gourd vine. Can you eat decorative gourds? Nick has turned the pile twice since it sprang up. I think he's been too gentle with the vine, he swears he turned without regard to it.

Peaches?!!:

The summer we moved here, after having cut down our fair share of trees, we planted our "orchard" We have 2 peach trees, 2 walnut trees, 2 hazelnut trees and (elsewhere in the yard) 2 (soon to be 4) cherry trees. Our peach trees have grown lopsided. One quickly grew to be taller than I am, the other has started to catch up this year but it is definitely lagging behind. Anyways, our bigger peach tree blossomed this year, but i didn't think much of it cuz i was under the impression that they had to blossom and cross-pollinate in order to get peaches. Imagine my surprise when i found 4 little peachlings out on the tree!

Raspberries:

After last year's flop of a crop, we are set to bring in a LOT of berries in the next few weeks.